


Guilt

by RookieSand



Category: Persona 5
Genre: F/F, Post-Canon, Sad, did you ask for sad ann because that's what you're getting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-06
Updated: 2018-07-06
Packaged: 2019-06-06 02:05:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15184370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RookieSand/pseuds/RookieSand
Summary: Ann still has bad feelings about what happened.





	Guilt

**Author's Note:**

> be the shiho x ann fanfic you wanna see in the world.  
> they're my top ship.

The Takamaki household was quiet which wasn’t unusual. The heads of the household were gone leaving their single daughter alone which also wasn’t unusual. In the house slept several housekeepers, their sole purpose to watch over the daughter that was left behind. They were the only company for the daughter and she wasn’t as fond of them as she used to be. Now that she was an older teenager, the weight of not having her parents around much was starting to take hold of her. She had friends, sure. That didn’t always fill up the hole that was left behind.

Ann Takamaki lied awake in bed feeling sorry for herself. She stared at the ceiling half wishing it would crush her. She felt terribly alone. She turned over onto her stomach and checked her phone. Nothing new had come up. It was 2:47 a.m. She set her phone down. She turned over again, lying on her side now. She readjusted her pillows. She moved her blankets around. She turned over. She checked her phone. It was 2:47 a.m. She stared at the time. It was 2:48 a.m. She had school in the morning.

She opened up her messages and went to the only person she could think to text at a time like this, her longtime best friend and her somewhat new girlfriend, Shiho Suzui. She sent her a simple text, _Are you up?_

Ann set her phone back down and stared at the ceiling again. She knew full well that the text was meaningless. Shiho most certainly wasn’t awake at this hour. She had school too. In the morning, Shiho would see the text and maybe even feel bad that she wasn’t awake to see it. But Ann didn’t really want Shiho to be awake. She just wanted Shiho to know that she was awake at that hour; and even if Shiho wasn’t awake now to comfort her, she’d want the comfort later. Shiho was usually good at the comforting thing when Ann needed it.

It didn’t help that Shiho had recently moved away. Ann was missing her desperately. Sometimes it felt like she was underwater with no air. Their newly formed relationship was on hold for the moment. It ripped Ann’s heart out but there wasn’t much to be done about the whole thing. Shiho’s parents had made a decision. This was just the world that they lived in. But Shiho’s blaring absence also brought back terrible memories. Sometimes, the bad part of Ann’s brain tried to make her think Shiho was really gone from her life.

A tear rolled down Ann’s cheek. Her knuckles were white from gripping the blankets so hard. She tried to soothe herself, telling herself that things were okay. But her mind was already reeling. She was in the back of an ambulance holding Shiho’s limp hand. The paramedics were bustling. It was hot and crowded. Ann was so terrified. This was all her fault. This was all her fault. This was all her—.

Ann’s phone chirped and she nearly jumped out of her skin from the unexpected sound. She opened it quickly, her heart pounding. The text was a sloppily written message from Shiho.

_Yea in_ awke _:o_

_Is it okay if I call?_ Ann typed back quickly. Her hands were barely holding steady enough to send the text message. She quietly swore to herself.

Without getting another text back, her phone started to ring. Ann answered immediately with a sheepish, “Hello.”

“Hi, Ann,” came Shiho’s smooth, sleepy voice on the other end. She sounded a little out of it like she was starting to wake up. Clearly, Ann had woken her up. Her voice was gentle and quiet. There wasn’t a hint of irritation to be found. “What can I do for you?”

Ann’s eyes burned with tears that she desperately tried to hold back. Her hand was covering her mouth. A sob escaped her. She was so happy to hear Shiho’s voice on the other side even if she was groggy. It was there and alive. She couldn’t help but cry about it.

“Are you okay?” Shiho asked gently when another sob was all that answered her question.

“I-I’m just having a-a really tough… n-night,” Ann managed to choke out. Her tears were free-flowing now. Nothing could stop the river once it was started. She sobbed again. She wasn’t sure if she was going to be able to talk.

“That’s okay, Ann,” Shiho said, trying her best to soothe Ann with just her words. “Things aren’t always perfect. I know you’re having a tough time right now. We both are.”

Shiho didn’t even understand the half of it. Ann couldn’t even begin to describe all the things that had happened to her. Secrets that she'd take to her grave and could never tell Shiho about. It was tearing her up inside to not share the Phantom Theif part of her life with Shiho. It was something that had changed her as a person. Something that had made her better. It helped save others at Shujin. Others around Tokyo in general. Even if it couldn't have saved Shiho all that pain and suffering, it had helped countless other people. Now it was over and she was normal again. But she was powerless. And she worried more often than not what that would mean in the long run. Would she be able to save Shiho again if she needed to be?

“Yeah… M-My life kinda sucks right now,” Ann said dryly. “I really miss you sometimes….”

“I miss you too, Ann.”

“This might be a weird request but… could you send me a picture of yourself?”

“Right now?”

“Yeah if you could.”

“Give me a minute.”

Ann waited patiently, using the time to gather herself again. Talking to Shiho had calmed her enough to where she had mostly stopped shaking. She wiped at her eyes with the back of her free hand to clear away some of the tears. She was almost glad that Shiho couldn’t see her at the moment. If she looked as bad as she felt, then it probably wasn’t a pretty sight.

On the other side of the line, she heard the rustle of Shiho’s blankets and a soft grunt as the other girl got out of bed. She could hear Shiho’s steady breathing as she must have walked somewhere but Ann wasn’t sure where or how far.

“Hold on,” Shiho whispered. The line went silent but not dead. Then Shiho’s voice returned, “It’s on its way.”

Ann’s phone chirped softly against her ear a moment later. She pulled the phone away to check the image. There Shiho was, standing in front of the mirror in her new bedroom. Ann had yet to see this room in person and it was very meagerly decorated. She thought she spied some cardboard boxes open on the floor with clothes hanging out. Shiho herself was wearing a long sleeve button up nightshirt that Ann had never seen before. It was an almost ugly plaid color that reminded Ann of the Shujin uniforms. Her hair was down and sticking out in all different directions. Her eyes were half closed but she had a sweet, soft smile on her face. The hand that wasn’t holding the phone was up beside her face in a peace sign.

“Thank you,” Ann whispered. “You’re the best girlfriend.”

“I try. Is that enough to put you at rest until the morning?” Shiho asked. Ann could tell she wasn’t upset, but she did really want to get back to sleep.

“Yeah. I think I’ll be okay. Thank you so much, Shiho.”

“Ann, why don’t I come see you tomorrow? We can get together in Harajuku.”

“That sounds lovely, but isn’t it a little far for you just to spend half the day with me?”

Shiho laughed quietly. “Anything for you, Ann. Plus, you should invite me to spend the night tomorrow and we can hang out all of Sunday as well. That will make my little trip all the more worthwhile. And then you can take me home on Sunday. How does that sound?”

“Absolutely amazing. You’re so smart. Definitely the smarter of the two of us.”

“Don’t sell yourself too short,” Shiho scolded gently. “Alright, I’m going back to sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow. And I’ll keep in touch when I’m getting in and stuff.”

“Good night, Shiho.”

“Good night, Ann.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> so ann is still pretty messed up about what happened to shiho. she feels guilty about what happened even all this time later. both of them are still pretty fucked up tbh.
> 
> there can be more to this but for right now im just gonna leave it at this.   
> if there ever becomes more it'll probably become its own work and be linked back to this.


End file.
